One of the greatest collections of pre-war hockey cards will be sold by Classic Auctions on November 5, featuring the Holy Grail of the hobby, the 1923-24 Bert Corbeau.
The collection belongs to Simon Borque, and is famed among those familiar with the PSA Set Registry as Simgin - Borque's alias. It contains the finest examples from almost every pre-war hockey card set, with approximately 95% of the sets holding the number one position on the PSA registry.
More than 600 cards in the collection are "1 of 1", meaning that no other PSA-graded card exists in better or equal condition. A further 400 are the highest graded, but have rivals in other collections.
The Bert Corbeau card is number 25 from the 40 card 1923-1924 William Patterson V-145-1 set, and features the Toronto St Patrick defenceman. A rare single print issue, only ten are known to exist and they each hold a Beckett value of $20,000.
Borque is the president of a civil-engineering firm and has been a collector since he was six years old.
"I made a lot of sacrifices, because I was not a wealthy man. But I am always a passionate man," the 61-year-old told the Calgary Herald. "There's no more challenge for me, because I think I have the best. It's like, the job is done."
Such is the importance of the collection, it is expected to establish new pricing guidelines over the entire hobby. Collectors can view the site specially set up by Classic Auctions for the collection here.
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